Page 78 of The Doctor and the Devil
Charlotte laughed even harder. Then, surprisingly, Marguerite joined in, covering a ladylike giggle with her blood-soaked hands. Étienne started up, and then Daphne, until everyone was in a collective bout of hysterics. Eventually, the absurdity of it hit me, and I joined in.
Rafael squeezed my hand, sending a wave of assurance through me.
When at last we recovered, I jerked my head back toward the mausoleum.
“I wanted to burn it,” I said. “But I didn’t know if there was anything down there that you thought was worth saving, Daphne.”
She tilted her head for a moment, considering. “We can always come back for the Judas silver. As to the rest…I think it’s time for a fresh start, wouldn’t you say, Charlotte?”
“Oh, most definitely. Antoine, darling, you’re so good with fire. Would you do the honors?” she asked, handing her mate a flint.
Antoine disappeared into the tomb for a few moments, and we heard the soft hiss and crackle of flames, followed by the acrid scent of smoke curling up from the mouth of the tomb. Antoine returned a minute later, looking a shade paler than before. He caught my eye and nodded—an acknowledgment of the devastation I’d wrought.
“For heaven’s sake, I’m starving, and Daphne and I don’t have any staff right now—we sent them all on holiday until we could get things sorted out with the Order. Rafael, darling, be a dear and have us over for a little longer, would you?” Charlotte asked, attempting to pin her wild brown curls back into her coiffure, and failing.
Rafael chuckled, the sound tugging at my scarred heart.
“What say you, Mina? Are you ready to go?” he asked.
Overcome with exhaustion, grief, and the sudden desire for an hours-long bath, I nodded.
“As I’ll ever be. Take me home,” I said, allowing him to help me to my feet.
We walked away from the mausoleum, pausing once to turn back as the flames expanded, licking the sides of the tomb. I was struck by the image—thinking it looked like the mouth of hell. In some ways, I suppose it was.
Charlotte and Antoine shifted into their wolf forms and bounded off, followed by Daphne and Étienne on horseback. Laszlo opted to ride with Marguerite this time, so they set forth on a much slower course, leaving Rafael and me at the back.
“Are you well?” he asked.
“No.” I shook my head. “But perhaps with time, I will be.”
“I will be here with you. I will help you every step of the way,” he said. “And now, at last, time is on our side.”
I gazed up into his dark eyes, so full of hope and the promise of love for years to come, and for the first time in years, I felt like he was right.
I pulled him down for a tender kiss, and we prepared to shift together.
“Ready?” he asked, shooting me an encouraging smile.
I grinned back at him. A bit damaged, perhaps, but ready to begin healing—as we were, together.
“As I’ll ever be.”
EPILOGUE
MINA
October 31, 1768
Château du Diable
“For the life of me,I’ll never understand why you didn’t want a spring wedding,” Charlotte opined, staring out the windows at the driving rain. “This weather is absolutely ghastly! It’s one thing to have a nighttime wedding—I mean, obviously—but why not in the spring with all the flowers blooming? Or in the summer, when the temperature is more pleasant for all our human friends?”
“You’ll see,” I said with a smile. “It’s a bit of a surprise. It was Rafael’s idea, actually.”
Daphne paused her ministrations with my hair, holding one errant curl aloft.
“Rafael helped plan the wedding?” she asked, stunned.
